This Globe Op-ed was published 8 months ago, but the questions it raises are very relevant today as we discuss the potential roles that Harvard might have in Allston as it expands its campus.

Robert Forrant, a professor at UMass-Lowell, writes in Beyond campus borders that, "engaged colleges and universities can play a catalytic and sustained role in social and economic development beyond simply the theoretical when their on- and off-campus efforts are guided by a reflective institutionwide and communitywide discourse."

He also mentions three national organizations that focus on community/campus issues: